Professionally, I focus on creating social benefit startups. In my Saturday morning emails I share what I’m learning and thinking. Topics range from better living and parenting to business and philosophy.
Romantic Robots. We hear talk about robots coming for our jobs, but we hear less about robots coming for our romantic relationships. Should we worry? A chatbot acting a lot like a counselor was the first “AI” to convince people it was a person. Yes, I see benefits to mental health counseling being more accessible. But what if it's not a counselor and more like a romantic partner? Do you want your kids “dating” a robot? What what are the ethics and social implications? What do you expect from your partner? Are AI girlfriends competing for attention with IRL ones?
Scientific Enlightenment. Can each person feel fundamental wellbeing or do we have a happiness set point? I adopted a growth mindset about my preferences (I could learn to like chocolate for example - I know I know crazy). Now I’m exploring a growth mindset about happiness. I read The Finders book and one of the author's papers. Dr. Martin and his colleagues interviewed and tested ~1000 people who claim to feel persistent wellbeing. Interestingly, he says that more people are learning how to feel this way due to the internet spreading knowledge. The empirical, material, scientific approach to finding inner peace is fascinating and also taboo. From the mystic side, why would you try to understand it from a rational mindset? And from the scientific side, it can sound like you’re investigating folk tales. After the interviews and experimentation, the author created an online class with a “Scientifically Proven Program for Finding Lasting Inner Peace and Contentment”. The marketing claims seem overblown, but I’ve experimenting with one of the techniques. Some people seem to like the class. What do you make of it? Of course, just because you call something science doesn’t make it science.
Other Mysteries. Inspired by Fenyman and Hamming, I keep a list of key questions I’m wondering about. I’m glad to see that there is a wiki for that! “Wikenigma is a unique wiki-based resource specifically dedicated to documenting fundamental gaps in human knowledge. Listing scientific and academic questions to which no-one, anywhere, has yet been able to provide a definitive answer.” Some that caught my attention: What is the function of all our DNA? What’s up with IBS? How do you explain the mind body problem (or problem of consciousness). And related, why aren’t smart people happier?
Until next time,
Miles